Figure 3
KIR expression in a population of KIR-negative NK cells. (a) Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) repertoire of a prototypical blood donor at day 0. The KIR repertoire was assessed on the natural killer (NK) bulk population at day 0 before the sorting of the KIR-negative fraction. Anti-CD158a recognizes KIR2DL1 (CD158a) and KIR2DS1 (CD158h). Anti-CD158b recognizes KIR2DL2 (CD158b1), KIR2DL3 (CD158b2) and KIR2DS2 (CD158j). Anti-NKB1 is specific for KIR3DL1 (CD158e1), and anti-KARp50.3 (CD158i) recognizes KIR2DS4. This experiment is representative of three individual experiments performed. (b) KIR repertoire of the KIR-negative population after 7 days of culture. The KIR-negative population of the same donor (panel a) was selected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS; left column), and cultured for 7 days with IL-2 or IL-15 in the presence or absence of IL-21 (the four columns to the right). The KIR repertoire was assessed after 7 days of culture. Anti-CD158a recognizes KIR2DL1 (CD158a) and KIR2DS1 (CD158h). Anti-CD158b recognizes KIR2DL2 (CD158b1), KIR2DL3 (CD158b2) and KIR2DS2 (CD158j). Anti-NKB1 is specific for KIR3DL1 (CD158e1), and anti-KARp50.3 (CD158i) recognizes KIR2DS4. This experiment is representative of three individual experiments performed. The symbols used are defined in panel a. (c) Effect of IL-2 and IL-15 and/or IL-21 on the KIR repertoire of several donors. The KIR-negative population was selected by FACS sorting (left column) and cultured for 7 days with IL-2 or IL-15 in the presence or absence of IL-21. This experiment represents the fraction of KIR-negative sorted cells from five normal donors who expressed KIRs after 7 days.